Technology stocks are under the cosh on worries about future growth, following poor trading news this week from Nokia.
The mobile phone maker's warning of flagging sales in the second quarter has hit chipmaker CSR, where Nokia is one of its biggest customers. This prompted analysts at Numis to cut their recommendation on CSR from buy to add, saying that sales to other customers like Samsung would be unlikely to make up for Nokia's problems
So CSR shares are currently down 15.5p at 335.2p, making it the biggest loser in the mid-cap FTSE 250.
Leading the FTSE 100 fallers is fellow chipmaker Arm, 16p lower at 555.5p despite Microsoft showing off Windows 8 - which will use Arm's architecture - at a trade show. Analysts at Espirito Santo said:
Microsoft previewed Windows 8 on tablets and PCs running on x86 and Arm-based devices at the Computex show in Taipei. However, Microsoft didn't provide a date for product launch except noting that it "won't be this fall." We expect the next update at Microsoft's developer conference in mid-September. Separately, Intel has been pushing a new class of devices called "ultrabooks", combining the features of tablets and performance of laptops. Overall, we maintain that market is too optimistic on the PC opportunity for Arm and maintain sell.
